In November, 2011, the PEW Economic Mobility Project, together with the Russell Sage Foundation and the Sutton Truse, released a study of ten countries and how socioeconomic advantage, as measured by parents' education, is transmitted over the course of one's life.  The select key findings are:

1. In the United States, there is a stronger link between parental education and children's economic, educational, and socio-emotional outcomes than in any other country investigated.
2. Family background begins affecting children early in life.
3. Preschool exposure can have lasting positive effects on educational and economic disparities by family background, especially for low- and middle-income children.
4. Disparities in early child outcomes persist into adolescence.
5. Across countries, policies and institutions do influence mobility.

See the report here.